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Nerd's Eye View - Inside 10,000 horsepower!
Pablo Mazlumian posted on December 22, 2013 13:31

So how does all of this fuel get ignited? With a crazy ignition system, that's how. Each nitro
engine sports two MSD Pro Magneto 44 ignition systems. These are the ignition control boxes
for the generators pictured next.

The boxes control MSD Pro Magneto 44 generators, sending 44 amps of current instantly to each
spark plug. With two spark plugs per cylinder, each generator is in charge of one plug per
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cylinder. Mason reports that with this much spark, if you wanted to, you could actually use a
spark plug as an arc welder.
Fact #6: Still, with so much boost and fuel, if one of the two plugs misfires, the entire cylinder's
combustion fails and pumps out raw, unburned fuel. At this point, the side of the car with all four
healthy cylinders will immediately start to push the car to the opposite sidea case more visually
apparent in a Funny car (probably due to the engine location). And, if in this case an auto-ignited back-
fire occurs when the exhaust valve is closed, it can blow the supercharger right off the engine or the
block in half.

The nitromethane fuel comes from VP Racing fuels. Actually, NHRA rules require a mix of 90%
Nitro and 10% Methanol in the fuel system.
The fuel is so slow to fully combust versus gasoline that it not only drives the piston further downward,
the tuning takes 65 degrees of ignition timing (BTDC) at redline.
The mixture in the combustion chamber runs so rich because there's oxygen in the chemical makeup of
nitromethane already (CH
3
NO
2
for you uber nerds). In fact, where it takes around 14.7:1 air-to-fuel
ratio to burn regular gasoline, it only takes 1.7:1 to burn Nitromethane. That said, I think this shoots
down the hey-watch-me-drop-a-match-in-this-tank-full-of-fuel trick. Maybe this is something for
Mythbusters.
FACT #7: Although TNT has a higher velocity of detonation, giving it more shattering power, it's a less
energetic high explosive than Nitromethane.

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I caught Antron Brown mixing fuel himself, right alongside his hard working crew, and pouring it
in the nose of the car. He's become known for his down-to-earth, charismatic persona. During
the time I was there he didn't turn away a single fan. Antron also believes firmly that
maintaining a strong workout regimen, a good diet and Christian values contribute to his
success.
FACT #8: If you've ever witnessed Nitro cars warming-up in Nitro alley, you may have noticed the initial
start-up sounding like a loud street-tuned V8 engine before getting into the freaky, raw-fuel spittin'
pops. That's because they're first turned over with pump fuel manually squirted into the intake
manifold. Why do this, you ask? For safety. If a start-up pop happened on nitromethane, the explosion
would be catastrophic enough to hurt someone.

When a Nitro car is fired up, fans inevitably gather quickly. Notice the back portion of the John
Force Funny Car picture on the tarp, flapping vigorously from the force of the actual car idling
underneath it. Sometimes the operator will blip the throttle, sending a shock wave through
everyone's body. Like some kind of chemical warfare, nitro exhaust is flat out awful. Not only is
it hard to breathe, it makes your eyes look like you toked a reefer.

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Posted in: Tech, Engine, Motorsports, Engines & ECUs, Race Cars, Extreme Engine Tech
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E-mail Permalink Comments (12)
Protodad link Monday, June 17, 2013 9:44 AM
JonathanL link Monday, June 17, 2013 10:37 AM
Adam link Monday, June 17, 2013 10:59 AM
SOULPWR link Monday, June 17, 2013 12:42 PM
SixCylinders link Monday, June 17, 2013 1:03 PM
Supercharged111 link Monday, June 17, 2013 2:43 PM
spdracerut link Monday, June 17, 2013 9:24 PM
mxpop link Tuesday, June 18, 2013 1:26 AM
Very cool. Gary Densham shwoed up to our school with a Funny Car and indicated that it would cost about
$3,000 to start the car and shut it back down (this was 10 years ago). At the track that weekend I was
amazed at how disposable some of the parts were. Particularly amazing was the pair of engine blocks
sitting in a tub of motor oil with a 4" hole punched through each one.
"The V8's aluminum block is rebuilt... in an astonishing 40 minutes."
So in about the same amount of time it takes me to change oil? I guess that's "not bad." ha!
Amazing coverage..
If you have a bucket list one of the items should be, "Standing near the track when a Top Fuel dragster
runs."
The jagged part of the green line at around 2.5 seconds is where the clutch starts to really grab. You can
see that the RPM's drop and the wheels begin to shake as the clutch really engages.
Hopefully you can cover how the clutch in a Top Fuel dragster works in the next installment..
Looks like you got a decent picture of the combustion chamber to me on page 7. That valve layout is pretty
interesting.
I think it's great that MotoIQ is doing articles on professional drag cars now, keep it up for my sake!
@SOULPWR That's the legit hemi design that they only allude to now. You can look in the intake and see out
the exhaust with the valves removed.
Oh wow, I didn't know Brown was racing Top Fuel. I know him from his motorcycle drag racing days!
Why do they rebuild engines each pass instead of replacing them and then doing the rebuild in a more
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drew_flux link Wednesday, June 19, 2013 4:47 AM
Pablo Mazlumian link Wednesday, June 19, 2013 10:26 AM
Rockwood link Wednesday, June 19, 2013 3:44 PM
Dusty Duster link Tuesday, December 24, 2013 9:40 AM
controlled environment? Is there a rule requiring reuse of the block or ??? Seems like a lot more effort and
risk to do it the way they do, must be a good reason I assume?
@mxpop its not a rule to reuse the same block. the main reason for on site rebuild is, the hour to hour and
a half between races can dramatically affect the tuning required. its not unusual to have 8 different deck
heights on the pistons to compensate for air temp,track temp and lane choice/grip levels.
Yes if you haven't experienced it is an absolute must-see event. And part two will indeed involve clutch
discussion with some logs of that as well. thanks for reading!
I've been to one Top Fuel event in my lifetime. Earplugs sell for $5-10, and for good reason. That was the
LOUDEST (WHAT?!??!) thing I've ever been around, including CIWS and other amazing inventions of
mankind.
I still remember waiting in line for a soda for 20 minutes right before the Top Fuelers, paying $5-6 (back in
'96 or so that was like half a tank of gas!), getting to my seat just in time for them to start, setting the soda
on the bench beside me, then feeling it on my feet when the vibrations/sound shook it right off. Completely
and totally amzing. If you've never been, you're missing out on an amazing experience.
The way those things accelerate is much more similar to a literal rocket than to a car. =-0
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